Prequel:
Prerequisites of Her Ideal Man
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A/N: I've been writing this for weeks and as you can see this is a sequel to a previous story of mine. The story was finished more than one year ago and I still see people reading and liking it so I decided to write a short sequel. Here it is~~. :D
Reminder: No worry, you can still understand the story without having to read the prequel, but I think you will appreciate the story more if you had read the previous one.
Warning: This oneshot is long so please bear with it. English is not my first language so please correct me for any mistakes you see.
Disclaimer: Oda-sama owns One Piece and he's doing an awesome job on the series. Law is adorable. XD
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Prerequisites of His Ideal Woman
~OoooO~
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Her Anecdote
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First Date.
Takes place a few days or a week or weeks after two people agreed to be with each other.
Takes hours and hours for women or men to prepare.
And a test, whether this two people will further like each other or realized that it was a mistake.
Exciting,
And yet,
Agonizing,
First Date.
After three and half months of agreeing to be in a committed relationship, they will have their first date.
Unusual? Not really.
She was a pirate, and so was he, both their chosen profession was not exactly infamous for doing the norm, so she guessed this was one of the closest things to normal their relationship was going to get.
Besides, the first couple of islands they found themselves docking in New World were either horridly cold or blazing hot and then, there was this island with the ground discharging miasma or a rundown island filled with hostile inhabitants.
Not a place she wanted to engrave her memories for a first date.
And now they have docked on an island called País de Festival –Country of Festivals—.
It was a huge island, and its inhabitant seemed to be only concerned with celebrations, in fact, a festival was going to take place tonight and another two days from now. And probably some more other occasions will happen next week. The island was definitely befitting to its name.
Since this was the friendliest island compared with the others they have gone through, it was a good place to hang out with just the two of them without their Nakama.
Speaking of Nakama,
The crew eventually found out about their… relationship –even after a long time she was still adjusting to the fact that she had one… with him— since Luffy was not the best person to share a secret with, and although, he was never vocal about it, he never tried to keep it a secret either so when he was outright asked by Usopp, the crew's sniper, he bluntly stated she like him and continued to say that maybe after he became the Pirate King, he would consider a proposal from her.
If she would be honest, yes, it was true that it was her who fell for him and was currently in love with him, but she could also honestly say that the guy drives her crazy to the point that she would ask herself why she ever came to like the man. It was also at those moments she wanted to strangle him to death.
But then...
Much later that very same day did he simply declared that he cared for her and wanted her beside him always. Thus, touching a cord in her heart and reminding her why she fell for the guy.
Anyway after all the raged –mostly from Sanji—, worry –from sweet Chopper—, teasing –that came from Usopp and Robin, sex ed lectures –willingly given by Franky which was not needed—, love song performance –from Brook which she still had mixed feelings about— and multiple warnings –from Zoro , directed at Luffy about a certain greedy witch, her—.
Everyone eventually settled down so long as the two promised not to sickeningly fawn at each other in public, as if she would do that, it was already embarrassing enough when everyone teased her about her supposed crush turned to love towards Luffy. She was sure it was about to get worst if they acted like a normal loving stupid couple in front of everyone.
She was thankful though, she at no time would admit to anyone that she experienced moments of fear in what the whole crew would think when she pursued a romantic relationship with her captain, after all, they were all supposed to be a family, and they did act like a one when they found out about their relationship, they all had voiced their personal opinions, some louder than the others, although, in the end, they accepted it and most of all, their trust and respect for her never change, and she loves them more for it.
"So Nami-chan, ready for your first date with the captain?"
Robin's voice broke the navigator's silent musing while she stood before the mirror.
"It's not… really a date. We're just hanging out." She shrugged.
'Of course it is, but I don't want to admit it out loud, especially when I know everyone is just gunning for a way to make fun of me.'
Robin remained silent, but the amusement in her cobalt eyes made her feel that the older woman just heard her thoughts. She made a show to glance at the wall clock and saw it was a couple more minutes before the festival was set to start, which was around the same time both Luffy and her agreed to leave Thousand Sunny.
"We-well anyway, it's almost time for the festival to start. See you later Robin-neechan." She turned toward the door.
"May you and Luffy have a good time tonight." Robin softly grinned and elegantly waved a good-bye to the navigator.
Nami exited the aquarium where she stayed to pass the time by reading a book or occasionally watched the small rainbow fishes in the tank.
She bathed and dressed herself hours ago. She didn't want to seem like she was fussing about this date, because she wasn't! The extra perfumed shampoo and conditioner she carefully scrubbed her hair with and the aroma bath oil and salt she spent hours lacing her body was because she wanted to pamper herself and an hour of mulling over her clothes was because she had time to spare. All those things had absolutely nothing to do with her date.
Her first ever first date.
She took a deep breath and wished upon the stars across the night sky that everything would go well or at least normal... and yet, she knew with someone like Luffy, nothing was ever normal.
She smiled.
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The Men's Quarter
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"Before you go out Luffy, you need to wear this."
Sanji presented Luffy with some kind of contraption. The object was silver and gleamed when hit by the light. It looked like the design was modeled from a human torso. The odd thing about it was there were multiple thick wide belts that hung to the side.
The captain's curiosity piqued, and he began to examine the silver device.
Usopp and Chopper got up from their hammock and walked to stand beside Luffy. The object had also gotten their interest.
"Sa-Sanji what is that?" the sniper asked, he had multiple sweat drops on his forehead.
From his point of view, it looked like some sort of torturing device with the metal in a figure of human torso and belts on each side where the arm was supposed to be.
Luffy's eyes sparkled with delight. He seemed to have figured out what the contraption was.
"I got it! It's one of that metal clothing that knights used to wear. I was wearing one when we were in Thriller Bark but hey, where's the rest of it? Why do you only have what covers the chest and stomach? And why does it have belts on the side?"
The cook ignored Luffy's chatter and answered Usopp's question in a grave tone,
"This is something he needs to wear when he goes out with Nami-san in order to protect her."
He looked straight to his captain's eyes.
"Luffy! Do you want Nami-san protected?"
The raven haired straightened his posture when he sensed Sanji was serious.
"Of course." He replied genuinely.
"Then wear this and Nami-san will be protected!"
He pushed the silver object towards his captain. The gravity in his voice was still present.
Excitement broke into Luffy's serious demeanor upon hearing that he could wear the knight's outfit.
"Really? I can wear it?"
He quickly snatched the item from Sanji's hand and turned it over on his hand and by using his rubber ability he could easily slip inside it, but before he could wear the armor, he must have grabbed it to hard because a click was heard and dozens of thick metallic spikes protruded inside it.
Several gasp was heard coming from the captain, sniper and doctor, who were near enough to witness the deadliness of the spikes. The young men's eyes bulged at the sight, and they all had a shock expression on their face with their mouth open.
"Why the heck did it sprout hundreds of giant needles???" Luffy asked in a panic-stricken voice.
The blond answered in a calm tone,
"To remind you not to lay a hand on a single hair on our precious navigator's body and to never do it again! Now hurry up and wear it." He pushed the item again towards the captain, his eyes burning with determination.
Luffy used his hand to block it and pushed it back to Sanji,
"I won't be reminded to do it again because I'll die! I may be rubber but if something that thick pierce my chest, I'll surely die." He replied in the same panic tone, his tongue spiraling outwards his open mouth.
The cook narrowed his eyes observing Luffy carefully.
He concluded that he won't be able to trick the raven haired into wearing the device anymore when he was currently so adamant in rejecting it.
He clicked his tongue,
"Damn! I was hoping you'll wear this and start bleeding here when the armor is touched."
"Oi!" Luffy complained.
"So you knew it had that feature, and you still gave it to Luffy to wear it??" Usopp scolded, he tried to put some sense to the cook, who apparently gone mad because Luffy was in a relationship with his Mellorine.
"What? If anything happens Chopper is here to help." The blond said sheepishly.
Chopper had been gawking from the armor to Sanji the whole time and was startled when he heard his statement. He didn't know whether to be happy or angry at the cook, so he chose both.
"You bastard!! You're not fooling me. Luffy could have been badly hurt so I'm not happy!" The doctor tone was angry, but he was definitely smiling.
"Moronic Imp, do you think the witch will be proud if she learned Luffy was hurt because of you. Besides, I thought you were over all this crap."
Zoro stayed quite the whole time. However, when he saw the pervert's idiocy reaching the peak, he knew he needed to intervene.
Sanji quickly deflated from Zoro's reminder, even forgetting to retort an insult to the swordsman,
"Bu-but! In the past few months when they haven't done any couple thing yet I could pretend th-that this idiot isn't together with Nami-san... but now that they are going on a d-da-da…date..."
Dark auras and multiple will-o-wisp hovered above the cook, and his tears began to fall like a waterfall.
"...It establishes everything!!!" He was now biting his handkerchief in agony.
"I don't even understand. I know Nami-san is a spectacular woman bu-but a moron like this guy, I was sure he will never look at her that way. I always thought he... would have a different taste." He was now grinding his teeth when he finished his speech.
"Okay curly, what type of woman do you think Luffy would like?" Zoro questioned, deciding to humor him.
The cook was still drowning in despair to take noticed of the swordsman's name calling and answered honestly,
"A meat woman."
"What kind of woman is that?" Chopper tilted his head to the side. The reindeer was puzzled by his words.
Sanji stop sobbing and fully face the others. The agony was gone, and only confidence could be read from his face.
"Meat Woman meaning a huge cooked meat carved into a woman." He elaborated.
"That makes no sense… it would still be a meat and not a living woman." Chopper replied.
"Exactly!" The chef declared.
"Perhaps a meat woman could also be a woman who could sprout meat? Is there a devil fruit like that?" Brook piped in.
Zoro had lost interest and turned away, going back to sleep on his hammock.
In the background, Brook continued to speak,
"I'm sure I'll feel shivers of delight in my skin if I met such a wonderful woman and her underwear, will it smell like meat?... ...Although I'm a skeleton. I don't have a skin or a nose to smell. Yohohohoho!"
It was apparent no one was listening to the skeleton joke because their attention was focused on the person that had spoken next,
"Yeah, I bet if there was such a woman, strawhat would love her." Franky just entered the men's quarter and joined the conversation.
"Eh? Really?? Do you guys think there's someone like that out there? Because I want to meet her." Luffy eyes were sparking, and his cheeks were pumped up with a slight blush visible due to his bliss.
Sanji immediately raged when he saw Luffy's reaction,
"See what I'm talking about! How could I let Nami-swan be together with su-such a a..."
Usopp quickly intervened to calm the chef,
"Oi! Oi! Let's give Luffy a benefit of a doubt. He may act like all he cares about is food but in the end, Luffy is still a man! And I'm sure when the time comes, he will choose Nami over food. Right Luffy?"
They turned to their captain, and it was evident he hasn't been listening to anything that had been said. He still got that blissful look and was now chanting,
"Meat Woman. Meat Woman. Meat Woman." His saliva was pouring out of his mouth.
Furthermore, in the farthest corner of the room, a skeleton could be seen sitting on the floor, hugging his knees and was quietly sulking.
The sniper was sporting a large vein on his forehead and readily hit their captain, which snapped him out of his meaty dream,
"Stop that! It's not helping your defense!"
"Defense? What is this, a trial?" Franky dryly commented.
"Oohh~~! Then I will be the prosecutor. Their job sounds cool!" Chopper excitedly spoke, his eyes becoming starry.
"Oh yeah! Then I'll be the one filling a complaint. I want a restraining order against that man to at least be a hundred meters away from Nami-Swan!" Sanji yelled with passion.
The shipwright getting carried by his nakama's antics also joined in,
"Ahem! Then I declare myself to be a judge."
He produced his mini hammer similar to a judge's gavel and pounded it to the back of his hand to create banging noises.
"Order, order in this court."Franky used his voice box to say the line.
"Wo~~w! That is sooo cool~~!" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were quickly amazed when they heard the robotic statement.
Feeling the cook's intense aura, the sniper awoken from admiring the shipwright and hastily confronted his friend,
"Everyone stop. We are not having a trial. Luffy, at least say something to pacify Sanji tonight." He turned to the captain.
"Okay, I promised I'll have a great time tonight and be eating all the free samples that you guys won't be able to eat for not being there."The captain innocently beamed at him, completely missing the point the sniper was trying to make.
Brook in the background lifted his head and said in a tiny humbled voice,
"Eh? Free food samples? Please take some home?"
Sadly for him, he was again ignored,
"Not that! About Nami!" Usopp yelled and hit his captain again.
"Oh! I promise Nami will also have fun tonight."
"She'd better." Sanji warned.
Feeling a bit relieved, the chef decided to help Luffy, although, it was really for Nami because he didn't want her to have a horrible night.
"Okay Luffy let's compromised. I'll trust Nami's safety to you tonight so promised me you'll at least read and follow some of the things I've written down and act like the perfect gentleman."
Seeing the sincerity in Sanji eyes the captain was happy to oblige,
"Shishishishi! Sure Sanji."
From his coat, the cook took out a thick stack of paper,
"Here, read every single detail. It's only twenty pages. Make sure to memorize it."
Everyone irises bulged out when they saw the stack of paper and gazed incredulously at the cook.
The captain with his hands quivering, he reached for the papers and scanned it for a few seconds before throwing it away.
"Ugh! It's long and boring. No way I'm going to read this." After getting rid of the papers, he placed his pinky finger inside his nose and had a lazy defiant expression on his face. He made a show that he was not going to change his mind.
"Aahh! I spend hours on that!" The blond shrieked when he saw the papers he put hours of hard work to write and finished was scattered all over the floor.
"Why you!!!" He hastily grabbed Luffy's front shirt and shook him back and forth.
"Uhh Usopp?" The captain looked at the sniper.
Usopp picked up a page to examine it,
"Twenty pages? Isn't that unreasonable, especially for someone like Luffy?"
'Or anyone.' He thought.
On closer inspection the young man let out a noise from the back of his throat, he saw that not only it was twenty pages but the writing was also small and...
"It's back to back! My client won't do such a thing. His date is minutes away." He argued.
"Hey I thought this wasn't a trial!" Chopper whined.
"Fine! Then I'm suing your client for breaking his promise!" Sanji stomped his foot down and pointed a finger to the captain.
"My client made no such promises!" He debated, feeling confident of his statement.
"Yes he did! He agreed with my client's proposition. If he breached the arrangement, then that makes your client liable to being a liar… errr… I meant damages." It was Chopper who spoke, deciding to play the role of a prosecutor.
"What? Eh…" The sniper squeaked, sweat of beads formed on his forehead. He failed to deny the accusation.
He quickly concluded that if you can't beat them, join them, he was also going to file a complaint of his own.
"Fine! If you're suing my client for breaching an agreement, then I'm suing your client for premeditated murder for giving that… that… seriously Sanji you haven't answered my question a while ago, what the heck is that??"
Losing his ire, Sanji answered Usopp in a civil tone,
"I told you, it was something to protect Nami from Luffy if he becomes lecherous during their date. As for the name… I have no idea. Franky's the one who made it."
"I see…" the sniper quietly stared at the discarded object lying on the floor.
"…I'm still suing for premeditated murder against my client."
Chopper immediately rebutted,
"Murder? On what grounds? My client—"
"Oi people, stop arguing! Luffy already left so shut up and let me sleep!" Zoro interrupted. He had woken up from his nap due to all the noise they were making.
"Oh... then there's no point in playing this game anymore." Usopp said, while Chopper nodded in agreement.
Sanji scanned the quarter and was alarmed to find out that their captain was indeed gone.
He hurriedly rushed to the door,
"This is not a game to me! Luffy, come back!!!"
His escaped from the ship was halted when both Chopper and Usopp grabbed each of his arm and dragged him back,
"Yeah. Yeah. Com'on Sanji play with us. Since Luffy's not here, join us and let's think of another game." Usopp suggested.
"I'm not playing. I need to stop Luffy!" He bellowed.
The chef glared from the doctor to the sniper then back to the doctor again.
It was the reindeer, who replied this time,
"We know... We understand, you're lonely. We are too. Nami took Luffy away. But don't worry it's just for one night. They will be back before you know it." He pated the cook's back in a comforting manner.
"I'm not lone... fine but I'm only playing cards and not those kiddy kind of cards you guys usually used to play." He brought out a pack of 'French Deck of Cards' from his pocket.
"I don't think I know many games using those cards." Chopper admitted in a naive tone.
"I'll teach you." Sanji grinned, showing his first smile that night.
"You guys playing cards? I'm in, but only if it involves money." Zoro, who went out of the men's quarter, walked beside them.
"So what do you say cook? Ready to lose some dough?" The swordsman smirked. He spoke in a challenging manner.
"Don't be such an arrogant moron, just because you don't need to worry about which direction is up and down on the face of the cards doesn't mean— Oi! Where do you think you're going?"
The three crew members stopped walking when they saw the swordsman headed to the girl's bathroom.
"Huh? What are you three standing around for? I thought we were playing cards, let's head to the aquarium."
"We are heading there. Where are you heading idiot?" the cook answered him.
Zoro faced front and jumped back when he realized he was in front of the bathroom for women.
"This is your fault imp. You confused me!" He defended his action.
"How is your idiocy my fault you piece of moss shit!"
"You… your eyebrow confused me dart brow. It's obvious that anyone would be confused just staring at them."
It was also obvious to anyone that it was just Zoro's lame excuse to cover up his own mistake but Sanji was bias. He just wanted an excuse to beat up the swordsman and Zoro gave him one.
He leapt through the air, and his foot was angled to land on Zoro's face when he heard the voice of his other nirvana,
"Playing a game of cards? Mind if I join in?" Robin wore a pleasant smile. She stood in the open door leading to the Aquarium Room.
"Robin-chwan~~! You're very much welcome to join us!"
Sanji was rejuvenated and back in a good mood.
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Back in the Men's Quarter.
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"Franky-san, may I ask a question?" The skeleton faced the shipwright.
"Hmm? Sure, what is it?" Franky raised an eyebrow. His face showed curiosity.
"Why did you even built that?" He pointed to the discarded contraption.
"The cook was super annoying, and it was either to agree to build that thing, which was a snap, or endure his nagging to build that thing every hour of the day. So you coming to join the other's outside?"
"Of course. I wonder if Sanji-san is now feeling better to make us a snack."
The two went out of the room to join the rest of the crew in Thousand Sunny's deck.
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The Captain's Perception on His Woman &
The Food Trip in the Festival
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Luffy and Nami were exploring the town called Petra City –Stone City— that was made of pure stone and marble. It was nighttime so the artfully crafted street lamps were turned on. The streets were crowded with vendors, villagers and tourist and yet, because of the windy weather, the night was cool even though there were a lot of people.
The two were walking on the stone path near the harbor when they noticed a man kneeling down in front of a woman and was boldly declaring his love through cheesy love poem,
"I love you for you are the one for me. Your whole being gives me a reason to live on this planet. Your sapphire eyes, like the stars in the night draws me in, making me lose myself in them. Your beautiful soul, it's so brilliant that it shines light even on my darkest days—"
The two cringed upon listening to the speech. They thought they were used to this kind of stuff because of Sanji, but the man could give the cook a run for his money, and they were thankful for that. Their chef was perfect the way he was.
"I know that you'll never do that but just to be clear." Nami broke their silence, glancing towards Luffy.
"If you ever tried to sprout nonsense like that I'll beat the crap out of you before you say a word and dangle you on the side of Sunny Go."
The young man shuddered. He knew for a fact that he'll never do that because he was no Sanji and to be honest, his brain will probably hurt from thinking all those complicated lines, still, Nami could be fearsome if she wanted to be.
"Don't worry Nami, I don't plan to."
They started to walk away from the couple when the woman began to fawn and moan on how much she also loves the man.
When Luffy heard the man spoke again, it made him glanced back,
"Oh my darling~~! You are my ideal woman."
He saw the couple tightly wrapped in each other arms that he couldn't tell where the man's body ended and where the woman's body began. It was one hell of a creepy sight, and at the same time he could see how much the two meant to each other.
He glanced at his navigator while he bit into his barbecue that he bought some time ago. He could never imagine Nami acting the way the woman did especially in public, and he began to wonder.
Do people act that way when they are with their ideal person?
He took another bite in his barbecue.
He scrunched his face while he thinks.
When he was a child, he could hazily remember that somewhere in the very back of his mind, he had already pictured what his future partner would be like, if he ever cared to get one.
He could describe her using three simple things,
She had to be a food provider. That was for sure a requirement, he loves to eat food, so she needed to be someone who can give him plenty of food.
The second thing was probably because of Makino, she was one of the people who took care of him when he was a child, and one of the people in the Foosha Village he respected and cared for when he was growing up. So he decided that the woman he would most likely have ended up liking had to be someone gentle, kind and caring like her.
And last, he wanted someone honest, brave and powerful just like his hero shanks. He could understand liking a woman like that, and he knew that a cowardly woman would probably annoy him with their whining.
He was now staring at Nami with his head tilted to the side while his mouth chewed on the barbecue stick, his arms crossed on his chest.
The girl standing before him clearly didn't fit his ideal woman and even when he stared at her, he was not experiencing those beating heart things or mystery butterfly in the stomach he was supposed to experience when a guy was beside the girl they like.
But.
He felt satisfied.
He at least knew the reason for this, basing from experience of the many times she left the crew. He didn't ever want her permanently leaving his side and now that he had an agreement with Nami, that made him assured and satisfied.
He massaged his head. It was starting to throb from pain because he was thinking too much.
A man yelling in a boisterous voice immediately caught his attention,
"Anyone's welcome to the Food Trip! It's free in its grand opening for today's fiesta!"
The word 'food' and 'free' did the trick. He forgot all about his headache and snatched the navigator's wrist and dragged her to where the voice was coming from,
"Wha? Luffy??" She could only stare at her captain in puzzlement.
"Nami! Free food! Let's go!" He replied in excitement.
When they arrived at the place, although the entrance was crowded, there was no line of people waiting to get inside.
The Food Trip is a type of bizarre restaurant. The guests rather than sitting were laid down on a bed made of stone that was dragged upward at a height of a five-story building. Then, the bed was pulled inside the restaurant using a rope that was tied around it.
According to the waiter who was standing on the entrance, once inside the restaurant, the guest shall only dine and be served with an array of food in the span of five minutes. He advised that there are no lights inside the restaurant. Therefore, the guest at all time should open their mouth throughout the whole process.
Nami had already decided there was no way in hell she was going to dine in that crazy restaurant.
Luffy had already decided there was no way he was going to pass an opportunity to eat in such an exciting place.
"I shall give you a hint. I shall tell you that there will be six dishes and six beverages. I shall say that the food and drinks will alternately drop into your mouths. And I shall not make promises to the hygienic process on how it will be dropped to your mouth, but it is delicious though." The waiter, who had his eyes close and had been beaming the whole time, informed his audience that had immediately stepped back when they heard the issue of cleanliness on the restaurant.
"I shall tell you another thing, when the five-minute is up, a wonderful surprised shall be given to our customers."
Perhaps he was hoping to encourage the people to try out the restaurant with his words and smile. However, it must be the lighting or the angle of his face because the people only felt scared upon hearing his words and seeing what looked like a sinister smile on the waiter's face.
"I shall ask for any volunteer? I shall assure everyone it would not kill you."
The crowd took another step back.
No ordinary sane person would want to go in a shabby establishment such as this place and Luffy may be sane, unfortunately, he's not ordinary.
"Me! Me! We like to eat at your restaurant!" the strawhat boy energetically waved his hands in the air.
"We???" Nami screeched in surprised.
"Yeah! Aren't you coming Nami?" He still had that wide smile on his face when he looked at her.
"No!! I'm not eating in a place that's looks unsafe. I might get food poisoning." She replied indignantly.
"No, you won't. Hey, tell Nami you don't serve poisoned food." He faced the waiter.
"I shall answer your question that our food isn't poisoned."
"See, he said it's not poisoned."
The waiter then proceeded to say,
"I shall also make you sign a waiver before having free access to our restaurant. I shall not be responsible for any unfortunate accidents while inside our establishment."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean???" She cried in fury. A vein popped up on her forehead.
"That's fine. We'll just have to be more careful. After all, accident does happen." Luffy nodded and simply understood that the restaurant was giving free food and if some unlucky accident –like a person getting sick from eating too much— happened then it is right that they should not be blamed for it.
"And a restaurant asking a waiver to be signed before you enter doesn't normally happen!" The navigator reasoned with her captain.
"I shall also tell you miss that a restaurant that gives away six dishes of meal and beverages doesn't normally happen." The waiter countered her.
Nami faced the guy and gave him her nastiest glare.
The waiter wasn't deterred by the glare, and in fact, he even smiled that creepy little smile of his,
"I shall ask, aren't you a tiny bit curious about the marvelous surprised we have in the end?"
"No." She replied in a flat tone, showing how much she isn't a tiny bit interested.
The girl then turned to her captain with an apologetic expression,
"Sorry Luffy, unlike you, I don't have a rubber body or a stomach that can withstand any food drop in it. I'm just a normal person."
"So just go alone and since it's only five minutes, I'll wait here." Her voice was patience, and her head was tilted to the side while her index finger pointed to the ground where she stood.
"You sure Nami?" He kept his face neutral, although he felt a small lump of disappointment in his chest.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Her face lit up with an encouraging smile.
Luffy turned to survey the restaurant and once again, thoughts of a free meal filled his brain. He turned to his navigator with a smile back on his face.
"Okay. Wait for me."
He ran up to the waiter when the guy spoke with his hand raised in a halting motion,
"I shall remind that two people are needed to enter the restaurant. I shall not allow it if you are not by pair."
"What?? After all your babble, you forgot to say that!!!" Nami was immediately in front of Luffy. She grabbed the waiter by the collar of his suit and shook him back and forth. Her whole body was surrounded by a fiery aura.
"I shall apologize. I forgot." He replied. The irritating beam was still plastered across his face.
"It's alright. I'm rubber. I can stretch my body and eat for two people." the young man suggested, his optimistic nature showing.
"There, he said his body can substitute for two people so let him in!"
The waiter raised his index finger. He struggled to speak through Nami's tight hold of his collar.
"I shall say that the process of dining is specially designed for a pair. I shall not let anyone in alone."
"Can't you see there's a customer willing to eat at your stupid restaurant! What's wrong with you??" She was vigorously shaking the man.
"Then... I can't go?" The captain wasn't able to keep the disappointment from his voice and from his side, he saw Nami stopped harassing the waiter to glance at him with a strange look on her face before she turned away.
"I shall apologize again sir. I'm sorry."
Nami glared one last time before she dropped the guy.
She sighed and walked up to the crowd, a charming smile present on her lips,
"Th-then isn't there anyone else willing to try th-this unique establishment?" Her voice was sugary sweet.
"They are offering free food!!!" She beamed to the crowd.
Everyone remained quiet. They were also refusing to look straight at the navigator.
"Isn't there anyone with a kind soul out there? Are you going to let a weak frail girl go into a suspicious place like this?" Her face was set in a pout, and her eyes began to glisten with false tears. She looked on to the crowd, pretending to be a pitiful young girl.
"I shall object to that, our restaurant is not suspicious at all." The waiter's voice broke into her act, and he was again smiling that uncanny smile.
"Stop that freaky smile! You are not helping!" She ruthlessly kicked the guy in the face, thus, destroying any images that she was a weak and frail girl who needed to be catered.
"Nami, do you not really want to go with me?" Luffy suddenly said.
She gulped. Her captain was staring at her with those eyes. Those unblinking, innocent and honest –like it was looking through you— eyes, which did not fit him because he was actually a spoiled selfish brat!
"It would be load and loads of fun."
His eyes were sparkling and his face was leaning into her, invading her personal space. She turned away and closed her eyes shutting him off.
"Imagine all the food we would be eating."
"No. I don't want to go!" She screamed. She was definitely imagining it, the food that the insane restaurant would serve and base on all the things she heard. They would want it dark because their food would have worms, cockroaches and mice mixed with it.
"Com'on Nami." Luffy whined. His hands grasped each side of her face and forced her head to face his direction.
"Look at me." He whispered in a serious tone.
Her eyes that were closely shut slowly opened. He saw the fear, anxiety and hint of stubbornness in them. Well, he was stubborn too. He just didn't understand the other two emotions she displayed. It was merely food, so why fear it? He was also there and if anything happened that she was unable to defend herself, then he will definitely be there to protect her.
"Please, Nami." He pleaded.
She remained silent. He could feel her eyes looking into his, as if trying to search for something, and then it stopped, as if she found it. The anxiety and stubbornness in her eyes steadily melted away, and he knew, even before she said it, he knew that he had convinced her.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked looking angry, and yet, there was no anger in her voice.
"Shishishishi! So will you come with me Nami?" He beamed.
"Fine! But you will owe me lots of Beli for this." She threatened, but with the cute and stubborn pout on her face, he didn't feel scared and was only amused.
"Sure. Sure."
She yelped in surprised when he suddenly hugged her and chuckled as he did.
"Thanks Nami. And besides, today's free! If I go with the others tomorrow, then we will have to pay money."
He let her go and proceeded in hastily demanding the waiter to let them enter.
They signed the waiver and when they were about to lay down on the stone bed, a couple of well-built men walked up to the entranced.
"You're right miss. If a girl like you have the courage to try this joint, then so do we. Isn't that right guys?"
"Yeah!" the men, who were with the man who spoke up, replied with vigor.
Rather than be delighted she narrowed her eyes to glower at them,
"Your sentiment means nothing to me. It's already too late... wait... is it? I mean with this many people going, I don't have to—"
She felt Luffy's hand seized her hand,
"Where are you going? You already agreed, stop being a wimp Nami."
He bluntly stated, however, the light of humor in his eyes told her he was only teasing her,
"Aren't you the sweetest captain. Be sure to expect the bill for this generosity tomorrow." She smirked, telling him she wasn't joking.
He winced and that made her laugh.
When they had laid down, the pair was instructed to hold on the metal bar that was placed on their front to secure them on the stone bed –which another waiter, who was assisting, told them it was actually called 'stoned' for short—.
He could see she was tensed, and she was looking apprehensively at the building before them, however, he could also see the light of determination in her eyes.
He suddenly had the urged to call out to her,
"Nami!"
She turned her eyes towards him,
"Shishishishi! If anything happens, I'm also here." He gave her a huge smile to encourage her.
He saw her eyes soften and grinned back at him. Her fear was gone.
Upon being pulled up, the waiter with the disturbing smile called out to them,
"I shall hope you enjoy and... take a deep breath when you exit." He finished in a cryptic manner, which earned him a glare from the tangerine head.
"Oh yeah, well here's an advice for you, careful when you're walking along the street or karma might run you over and whisk away your valuables." She relayed her own cryptic message.
It could be her imagination because they were high aboveground, or it could be that she did actually saw the waiter's ever smiling face cracked, and he began to sweat from her threatening cryptic statement. She was satisfied to believe it was the latter.
They were both on the peak, and the 'stoned' was pulled inside.
It was dark, and the two had a hard time of seeing anything.
"They were not kidding, I can't see a single light here." Luffy commented. He tried to adjust his eyesight to the darkness.
"This is crazy. It feels more like a haunted house than a restaurant." Nami noted, she was resigned to her fate.
They were both startled when a loud voice spoke, which seemed to have come from a speaker,
"I shall remind our dear customers not to forget to open your mouth."
"Is-is that the creepy waiter outside??" Nami frantically whispered to her companion.
"I guess he's not only a waiter, but also an announcer." Luffy replied in a relaxed tone.
"I shall also remind the customers of our restaurant about our number one policy, which is only to serve and have the guests dine in a span of five minutes so brace yourselves."
As soon as the announcement was done, cold water was sprayed on their face that had them sputtering and coughing nonstop.
"I shall introduce our appetizer for this evening, a crab and corn soup."
"Wha—"
Their complaint was cut off when a warm liquid, which was assumed to be the crab and corn soup, was splashed near their mouth.
"Pweh! You miss the spot!" Luffy whined and proceeded to open his mouth wide, while Nami was left cursing and swearing to kill the announcer and the person who came up with this horrific idea.
"I shall now present you with a vintage wine, perfect for the appetizer you just ate."
Warm liquid was poured on them and this time, it was luffy who complained on how much he hated the sweet, yet, bitter taste.
"I shall now start with our first dish, les cuisses de grenouilles et des scarabées à l'ail et la coriandre, in other words, frog legs and beetles with garlic and cilantro. Yum!"
Both immediately yelled their protest when they heard the next dish, which cause them to swallow some of the food that was dropped on them because of their opened mouth.
Nami was left whimpering.
Luffy still had the energy to shout his complains,
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be a restaurant?? Why are you serving us pest and insects???"
The announcer didn't appear to have heard them because he continued to present the next course, which was another native cuisine that had pig's butts, chicken legs and indigenous snail in it.
"I shall tell you it's name, this exquisite dish is called 'Food for the Gods'... wait... whoops! My mistake. I meant Food for the Exotic. Bon Appétit!"
"Exotic??? What the hell are we animals??" Nami screamed.
… …
…
Four minutes later, with them smelling like decayed meat, dead insects, rotten fish and alcohol or literally like someone, who got thrown up by a drunken person and several pregnant women with morning sickness at the same time.
The couple was almost done with their dinner that evening on their first date.
"Ugh! How the hell am I supposed to wash this stink off of me?" She tried not to breath, and that proved to be impossible for the reason that she needed oxygen to stay alive.
"I shall tell you not to worry miss, our marvelous surprised will help you with that." The announcer replied with a chirpy voice.
The stinky smell hastily dissolved from her mind. The navigator squinted her eyes to locate where the voice was coming from, however, she failed due to the darkness, so she settled to voice out how much she was pissed off.
"You deranged moron!!! So you heard us complaining the whole time, and you kept dropping that disgusting stuff on us!"
The voice in the speaker stayed silent and was again pretending not to hear her.
Luffy used his rubber ability to lick his tongue all over his face,
"You know Nami, if you don't imagine what type of ingredients was put in the dishes, it was actually good."
She turned her head and faced her captain,
"No Luffy, I can't stop imagining it because the stupid announcer won't stop chattering about it!"
"Well?? What's the surprised? Is it a bath or some kind of special perfumed soap that will wash all these stink away?" She asked impatiently.
The announcer spoke,
"I shall thank you for being our first customer. I shall answer the question that the miss guessed wrong. But! It's pretty close to that!"
Almost immediately after the man was finished talking, they felt themselves lifted up and was pushed off the bed. The next thing they knew they got tossed up into the darkened sky and were now falling into the sea.
Nami screamed at the top of her lungs while Luffy yelled in delight of the thrill he was feeling in that moment.
Seconds later the two plunged to the ocean. Nami quickly grabbed hold of Luffy's body and swam to the surface. They emerged with her breathing heavily and her captain coughing up sea water.
"Hang on Luffy." She secured her hold on him and scanned her surroundings.
She spotted the stone harbor at the back of the restaurant and saw the creepy waiter waiting for them with a bath towel on each of his arm. He still had that annoying smile plastered across his face.
She had the urged to use her Clima Tact and tornado the guy away. She was not going to deny it. She didn't like the guy.
They were tossed quite far so she swam at a distance.
Upon nearing the shore, she paddled to the marbled stairs that was built and connected to the harbor.
When she reached her destination, she dropped Luffy to her side and panted from exhaustion,
The waiter greeted them,
"I shall say that even though it was not a bath, it did a good job on cleaning you guys up."
From her crouching position on the floor, she lifted her head to scowl at the guy.
Again, the waiter wasn't deterred and extended his arm where the towels were carefully draped,
"I shall offer complimentary goods from our restaurant and as a bonus, I even signed it." He looked proud of himself.
"After all that happened, why do you think we would want an autograph??" She flared and snatched the towels off his arms.
She gave the other towel to Luffy. She dropped it over his arms and back. She then proceeded to use the towel to dry her hair.
The waiter answered her,
"I shall repeat, you are my first customer and because of you, a lot of people are lining up to eat at my restaurant." His hand gestured in the direction of the entrance, and it could be visibly seen that the crowd from before had doubled.
They also heard multiple shrieks and shouts from somewhere. The sound of several disturbances on the water surface came from someplace far off. It was apparent that after them, a lot of people had also gone in the restaurant.
"I shall express my gratitude through these simple gifts."
It was an odd feeling when she saw the guy for the first time looked like he had shown a genuine smile on his face.
"By gifts, you mean a towel and your worthless signature?" Her words may have sounded harsh, but her tone was light.
She continued to wipe the towel on her when a realization hit her,
"Wait… you said 'my restaurant'…you own the place?"
"I shall not object to that conclusion." He humbly replied.
She critically examined the guy, and she thought, maybe the man was not that dislikable.
"I shall add that you don't disgustingly stink anymore and the wonderful aroma of fresh sea fish… er… wa-water is the scent I smell from you. I shall conclude it's not bad if you compare it to your stink a while ago."
The irritating beam was back so she also takes back her thoughts. She very much disliked the guy!
"Luffy told you he had the rubber ability, and that made him a devil fruit user. You should know that he could have drowned in the sea, especially during the night." She explained in annoyance.
"I shall… Oh…" The waiter and now, also known as the owner of the establishment, had grown nervous when he realized the implication of the information supplied to him.
"I shall perhaps have asked first if our customers were devil fruit users or not…" He gulped.
"I shall now bid my farewell. Good-bye young lovers and don't forget to come again." He hurriedly ran to the entrance in an effort to stop some unfortunate devil fruit user from the risk of drowning because of their 'special surprised' at the end.
"Remember what I said! Watch yourself on the street because you never know when karma would strike you like a lightning bolt!" She called out to the man's retreating form.
Laughter erupted from her side,
"Shishishishi! That was fun!" Luffy cheerfully said when his strength came back to him.
He was now rubbing the towel on his hair to dry it.
"Maybe we could try it again?" He wondered out loud.
"No!" The navigator's outright answer.
"Seriously, you say fun and I could only see craziness, repulsiveness, scariness, outrageousness, dumbness…" She stopped.
After all the negative stuff she mentioned, Luffy looked on to her with a wide grin spread on his face.
"And…"
She couldn't help herself from returning his smile. It was contagious.
"I guess I could also see happiness." She began to chuckle. It was the truth. Their whole journey was insane, horrible and frightening, but in the midst of it all she managed to always see the fun in it and have a smile on her face in the end.
Even though the city was crowded, there was no one around in the back harbor of the restaurant. The evening was quiet except for the simultaneous screams and splashes of water from afar.
It was peaceful.
"You know, if I am alone right now, I will never ever pay attention to that place, and nobody will be able to force me to eat in it, except that selfishness of yours." She confided, a sheepish smile was adorned on her face. Her voiced was soft, like she was telling him a secret that she only wanted him to hear.
"It represented some of the things I didn't like or even hated that I would rather not experience it. ...But after going through that place, the fear and anxiety that I had before I realized it, I somehow conquered it. That is why I feel very happy right now."
His instinct was telling him that the stuff she mentioned wasn't just about the restaurant. His gut feeling told him it had something more to do with their journey towards their dreams.
As he watched her say stuff she normally wouldn't talk about, it made him feel closer to her, and he felt glad about his discovery.
She looked at him speculatively, although, the sheepish smile was still there.
"I don't know if you understood some of the things I said so I'll just simply say, ...thank you Luffy."
Her gentle smile slowly turned into a beam. He could feel the honesty of her words.
His body reacting on its own, he grabbed the navigator into a tight hug and gave her a full gentle kiss on the lips, which surprised the navigator. And then, he seized her hand and merrily run further into the festival.
The towel on their back looked like a cape while they run.
He didn't know what Nami wanted him to understand, but he understood one thing. He knew when he was observing her a while ago that she detested going into the restaurant but in the end she decided to do it and now, she was happy that she did it. That made him proud of her as a captain and as someone more.
Nami may not fit the type of partner he imagined having, and he did not care because she was much better than what he pictured.
He felt more satisfied than ever, and he was feeling something else.
Strange.
He knew he had not eaten a lot this evening. The six dishes of meals from the restaurant was small in portion, and he should still be hungry.
Really strange.
Because after hearing Nami's words, he felt full like he just ate pounds and pounds of food.
His stomach was tingling.
As the pair ran through the festival, they had once again passed the couple who were fawning at each other earlier, the man was again reciting one of his poems,
"My sweet~ sweet Rosebud~~ Just like your charming name, you are like an enthralling bud of a rose that captivates my heart."
The couple then ensued to ogle each other.
Luffy tugged her hand to get her attention,
"Looks like they are having fun, you're sure you don't want me to do that?" He used his thumb to point to the couple.
"I won't be thinking of the lines, but I'm sure the guys can help me with that." He was only joking around, and he had not expected her honest answer.
"Luffy, I don't need those kinds of crap because your actions will always be one hundred times more meaningful than a hundred love poems." Nami casually replied and continued walking with his hand still held into hers.
"... ... ..."
For the first time in his life, he ran out of words to say.
His body was definitely acting strange tonight.
He felt his heart stopped a second ago and now… it was beating so fast that he wondered if this is what Chopper would call a heart attack.
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The End.
Stomach Butterfly, check! Fast Pace Heartbeat, check! I think Luffy just experience the Love Sickness Syndrome XD
Most of the time it was Luffy who was considered sweet but now it's Nami's turn. :D
Thank you for reading.
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A/N: I hope that turned out decent? as the previous one, until next time. If you like it please leave me a review. :)